Zach (Indiana), Emily (New York) and myself left the Chicagoland area at 6am so we could pick up Nate in Janesville, WI by 7am.

Part of the Group

Once this was completed its pretty much a straight shot up to Superior, WI where we met up with Sara and Gerardo who were coming from Oshkosh, WI. We met at the Culvers for lunch, which is fast becoming a tradition for our trips to the BWCA. We had our canoe reservations through Latourell’s, however there was no room at the inn due to a blueberry festival in Ely, MN that weekend. So, we found and reserved a campsite at Fenske campground which was pretty nice albeit 40 mins from the outfitter…. it would be an early morning. On the way to Ely we traveled a route that took us through some of the burn area from last year’s fires that shut down the BWCA and canceled our trip. We arrived at Fenske campground about 3pm and set everything up and went back into Ely to explore and have dinner.

Burn area

Boathouse Brewpub & Restaurant

The campsite was a little small but we smashed our tents in the tent area and I hung my hammock off to the side since I don’t need level ground (big plus to hammock camping). No fire that night as we turned in early so we could get an early start tomorrow morning. Anticipation hung thick in the air as we disappeared one by one to our sleeping arraignments.

First Nights Accommodations

Mon, June 22, 2015 Left Manchester, Iowa at 6am drove the 510 miles to Ely, Mn arriving at Voyager North Outfitters at 3pm. Picked up our permit and 2 pounds of leaches and we were off to the Forest Service office. I had some questions about the non-bwca campsites on Snowbank Lake. I believe it was Tom at the forest service who confirmed that there were a few non reservable boat/canoe in sites outside of the BWCA boundary. He also mentioned that since it is in the national forest that dispersed camping is also allowed. With that information, we were off to the Ely DQ to have an early supper and discussed where we would be spending the night. We decided that we would either camp at the Fall Lake campground or put in at Snowbank and possibly get one of the forest service sites outside of the BWCA. Well, we drove through the Fall Lake campground and then we drove up to the Snowbank landing. The lake was calm looking to the south and so we unloaded the gear and would attempt to get to one of the sites outside of the BWCA. These sites are to the north and west of the canoe launch and getting to them became hazardous as the winds picked up from the north and whitecaps developed. We searched and were successful at finding a dispersed site just big enough for our tent in the southern and protected area of the lake. We were asleep by 10 knowing that we were planning a long day tomorrow.

Tue, June 23, 2015 Today would be our biggest travel day of the trip. I guess I like to push hard on the first day to get away from the crowds. We were up at 5:15 and on the water by 6. I do like to get an early start because most of the time you have the lakes and portages to yourself. We made it through Disappointment, Ahsub, Jitterbug, Adventure, Cattyman, Jordan, and were on Ima by 10:30. We stopped at the north campsite on the island to take a break and have a snack. It’s really a great site so I asked the boys if they wanted to stop for the day but they chose to keep moving. We paddles our way down to the portage to hatchet just as the wind started to pick up. We found this portage to be pretty cool as it cuts through some steep terrain on the Ima side. We made 3 more portages on Hatchet creek and were on Thomas. From Thomas we made our way through the narrows and made it to Frasier. It was about 3pm when we hit Frasier and 3:45 when we made it to campsite 1400 in the north bay by Sagus. We set up camp, ate, relaxed, did some camp chores and were in the tent by 9pm. Thunderstorms moved in overnight and it rained until midmorning the next day.   Wed, June 24, 2015 With the long travel day the day before and the rain all night none of us felt the urge to get up early and I was the first one to get out of the tent around 10:30. Sam and Ryan got up around 11. Today we paddled, fished and explored Frasier. The fish were not being cooperative but we did find a reef and I thought it might be a good place to try come dusk. So after supper we went back out to the reef the boys rigged up with bobbers and leaches and I was going to do some jigging. The first hour of fishing we got nothing and then from about 8:45 to 9:30 it was nonstop action. Ryan ended up catching and releasing a nice 26 inch walleye and Sam a 24. We kept 2 for breakfast on the stringer. [paragraph break] Thu, June 25, 2015 I was the first out of the tent this morning and thought we would have walleye and tators for breakfast. Well a turtle got one of the walleyes overnight but there was still a nice 20 incher for us to eat. Breakfast was a great then we cleaned up, broke camp and were on the water for Sagus by 10:30. Only one portage and we were on Sagus. We made our way down to site 1910 and set up camp. It’s a beautiful site on another beautiful lake and I would have been content to stay close to camp for the day but we decided to see if we could get to Raven and possibly catch a laker. We made over to Roe Lake and found the fist old portage up the creek to Raven. The creek really winds around and gets really narrow. Once we got closer to Raven we had to pull the canoe through thigh deep mud until we reached the second old portage to Raven.[paragraph break] This portage was longer than the first and had many downed trees to maneuver around. I have to admit that I was a little whipped after finally getting to Raven. The lake is beautiful and we had a snack and a swim to wash off the muck before getting back in the canoe to do a little fishing. We ended up catching 3 lakers, 2 on blue and silver little cleos and one on a mooselook wobbler. We kept 2 for supper and they were the best fish the boys ever tasted.

Fri, June 26, 2015 Today I think we slept in until about 8 and were on the water at 9:30 with the goal of making it to Adams Lake. We made back to Roe Lake but then had difficulty finding the Cap Lake portage. After about an hour of searching we finally found it. I don’t know why we had such difficulty as it is right there. Cap is a small lake and you can see the 2 portages out of it when you first reach the lake. We decided to take the old portage that goes from Cap to a pond and then paddle down the pond and pick up the portage to Boulder. The old portage was in good shape so I think we made the right decision. Boulder is another nice lake which has a nice campsite on an island. We were going to stop there for lunch but there was a person camping there so we continued on having lunch before we reached the creek portages to Adams. We got to Adams and took the island site. Adams is another great lake and we saw no one the 3days and 2 nights we were there.

Saturday, Jun 27, 2015 We spent the day fishing and exploring Adams. Sun, June 28, 2015 We were on the water at 7 am with the goal of making it over to Alice. The first portage out of Adams to Beaver is pretty much downhill and it has some nice stairs. There was nobody camped on Beaver as we passed and Trapline was quiet as well. We did notice that one campsite was taken on River Lake but we were the only ones in a canoe all the way to Alice. Alice was calm as glass when we arrived at 11 am and remained so as we paddle up the east side on our way to the north side of the lake. We checked out a few campsites since I only saw 2 of the sites occupied. The beach sites looked nice but we decided we are more flat rock people than sand people. We picked site 1174 which had a nice lounging rock. We took a nap on the rock and did some fishing after supper.

Monday, Jun 29, 2015 We were on the water again this morning at 7 am. We made it over the short portage to Cacabic and then the much longer one to Thomas. Thomas is a lake that I would like to spend some time at but we decided we would paddle up to Ima to the nice island site that we saw when we began the trip. Around 10:30 we got to the island site (1195) and set up camp. The wind picked up to a pretty good breeze and we had not a desire to get in the canoe and fish. We played cribbage, fished from shore, and watched the people as they paddled by. I could tell we were getting closer to an entry point because of the many people that went by our site. A couple of groups over the 9 person 4 canoe rule and parents with small kids paddling the middle of a choppy lake and the parents not wearing life jackets. What chance would the young ones have if their parents unfortunately drowned?[paragraph break] Tuesday, Jun 30, 2015 After a relaxing day at Ima we decided we move a bit closer to our take out and head over to Ahsub. Ahsub is a small lake but the DNR report says it has been stocked with brookies. We didn’t catch any brookies but we did catch some of the smallest bass of the trip. We also people watched as numerous groups paddled by.[paragraph break] Wednesday, Jul 1, 2015 The last day and we had to paddle out and drive the 500 miles back to Iowa. I think it got in the 40’s over night so it was cooler than normal and the fog was out as we were up and paddling at the crack of dawn. We made our way over to a quiet Disappointment Lake and then over to Parent lake just so we could cross one more lake off our list. I was amazed that no one was camping on the 2 sites on Parent this close to a holiday weekend. We met no one on the portages and didn’t see anyone out paddling until we neared the Snowbank landing. We had everything in the Traverse and the canoe tied down and then made it to Ely by 9 am. We stopped at Voyager North for showers and then on to Tower for some pastries at Tim Horton’s. The traffic through the cities was smooth and we made it back home by 7pm. It was another great trip in the books.

We survived the night…... what a night. I think the storms stopped about 2am or somewhere around there which means nobody got a lot of sleep. The morning was still cloudy with a light mist being blown around by the moderate wind that followed the storms. Everything was soaked……... but when surrounded by water and to fully acclimate to the BWCA one must become the water. Mission accomplished. We got a slower start and packed up and shoved off around 9am in the gray, wind and mist that was to be our companion for the remainder of the morning. First lake to conquer was Thomas. We headed east and north and paddled through the channel to the next lake, Fraser Lake.

Channel Portage

We followed the north shore of Fraser to stay out of the wind and noticed the clouds starting to breakup exposing glimpses of the sun. The sun picked up our spirits and made it to the next portage around 10:30am. The next couple of portages to Gerund Lake and Ahmakose Lake weren’t bad as they were short and the lakes were small so we made quick work and were on to the portage to Winisi Lake in no time. This is where we noticed the portages starting to get tougher. More elevation changes in combination with length and rocks. I couldn’t help but remember a previous trip with some portages I believe along the same parallel but a farther east that were also very challenging and really put you through your paces (heading north, Agamok Lake to Mueller Lake to Ogishkemunice Lake). I would be curious if anyone else has noticed this or am I overthinking things??

Rocky Portage

Back to the story, the first part of Wisini heading north was pretty protected from the wind but once we came out of that bay, we were head on into the wind and progress became a lot more challenging. One thing that took our mind off the wind is the spectacular campsite on top of the cliff! I am not sure how you get up there but it looked like a site with great views, although I am sure there is a lot of traffic through there. We called it Billy Goat Bluff. Once across Winisi we stopped for lunch on the portage to Strup Lake and stripped our rain gear off as the sun was out in force and we were loving it! Drying out is always a good feeling! We stopped for about 30 mins and Nate and Gerardo broke out the fishing gear caught some fish although nothing of size.

Lunch

First Fish (I think....)

Our goal was to get to South Arm of Knife and find a campsite around Thunder Point. Some of you are probably laughing at this. Who thinks they can find a campsite around Thunder Point the first week of August during the busiest time in the BWCA? Did I mention this was our first time on the Ely side? But first, across Strup Lake and onto the next challenging portage to Kekekabic Lake only to be greeted by a lake whipped into whitecaps by the wind. Bring it on!! This was the only time I was concerned for the newbies. Thankfully the wind was blowing from the north and we needed to go north. Nate and I experienced Lake Saganaga in all its fury and this wasn’t as bad as that so we knew what to expect and that we could make it. Keep the bow into the waves and just power through, use the islands as wind breaks and before you know it your across or at least far enough across where the wind doesn’t affect the waves as much. So that’s what we did. As we progressed you could notice the waves start to dwindle as you got closer to the protected shore. At the portage it was basically calm. By this point in the trip Zach and Emily had a pretty good rhythm and were the first group to set off so we let them pick the line. Although we did not follow their line, they gave us a good reference point to where the portage was since they got there first. While heading north we ducked behind the big island and took a rest before heading out to the big open part which worked out pretty well. After a good paddle we were on to the next challenging portage and Pickle Lake.

Kekekabic Lake

We were across the next three lakes Pickle, Spoon and Bonnie pretty quickly as this is burn area and not really a lot to see so we just motored. We were all starting to get tired as it was getting late in the day and we had been fighting the wind for hours now. We wanted to get a site on northern side of the island just around the corner or at least in the vicinity of Thunder Point. This was not to be. As soon as we set off on South Arm of Knife we started seeing people…. And not just a canoe or two…… all heading east; it seemed like we were the only ones heading west. Everyone we talked to said all the campsites were taken from that point heading east until we hit the Big Knife Portage (at least I assumed this was the portage everyone referenced since no names were used). Was this the first time we would be traveling at night in the BWCA? I cannot see this being a good thing since all the navigating we have done pretty much involves following shore landmarks that you can see from a distance. We did have a compass (always bring a compass) but it’s been a while and I am probably pretty rusty with this skill. Something to brush up on before the next trip….

About to Portage

More Portaging

So we stopped and formed a 3 canoe barge and studied the map to formulate a plan. I took the mindset I use while hunting….. where are people not willing/wanting to go, can we get there and how long will it take. I study these maps pretty intensely before we go and I remembered a little dead-end lake off the beaten path that supposedly had 2 campsites on it. Well…... it was worth a look. If either of those campsites were not available then we would be traveling in the dark. We made a beeline for the dead-end lake following the southern shore of Knife Lake. This probably added 5 to 6 unplanned miles to our day but we all kept a positive attitude and were hopeful that one of these sites would be available. We made it to the portage to Portage Lake around 6:30pm and at this point we were all tired and hungry. What we didn’t want to happen is have everyone traverse the portage only to find both campsites occupied and then have to turnaround backtrack and cover the same piece of ground for nothing. So Nate and I went over with just the canoe and paddles while everyone else stayed on the portage to make dinner and eat.

Last Portage for the day

Nate and I made quick work of the portage, you can really travel quickly if you don’t have any packs to go back for! We put in on the dead-end lake and started looking for either campsite with our fingers crossed that one would be open. The map said there were two campsites along the northern shore on that particular lake. I have no idea where the first campsite is because we padded almost the entire length of the north shore and didn’t see a trail or anything until the last little bit where the map marked the second campsite. Which was OPEN!!! We staked our claim and went back for the others. Nate and I grabbed our packs and left everyone else to catch up after giving them instructions on what to look for and where to go.

The campsite # 1244. The landing for this campsite is pretty challenging. Its fairly deep (over my knee) and narrow with mud and some downed timber to navigate. The fire grate is in an open area that has some larger rocks and had plenty of options to tie off a tarp for shelter if the need arose. The area is not very level but we managed to find enough areas to get the tents set up. This was another site where I was happy to have a hammock, no level ground needed. This campsite had not been used in a long while and we know this because the latrine was clean. I mean fresh clean; we were the first ones to leave our marks. :) The one challenge to this site was finding a good bear hang tree. We used the two-rope system again and got the food bags hung safely.

Campsite

This lake was out of the way even by BWCA standards and you felt the remoteness…... nobody traveling through the lake or staying on the lake. It was actually pretty cool. And to think that we were less than a half mile off the main lakes but we felt like we were the only people alive! This site really wasn’t that bad, at least not to a bunch of weary travelers excited to not have to go any farther that day. We got set up and settled in by the fire and dried out some shoes and some of us fished. It was here that the first eater sized fish was caught, cleaned and fried. There is nothing like fresh fish, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Drying out

Fishing

Fish!

As the evening wore on the conversation turned to what we wanted to do the rest of the trip since we covered so many miles that day. The original plan was to have a rest day and check out Thunder Point but we were well passed that and nobody had any desire to go back that way. So it was decided to do a couple of short travel days and exit the BWCA early on our final day so we could make it all the way home that same day. With the light fading and everyone exhausted we turned in for the night. It has been a long time since I slept that good.

Night cap

Lakes traveled: Thomas, Fraser, Gerund, Ahmakose, Wisini, Strup, Kekekabic, Pickle, Spoon, Bonnie, South Arm of Knife, Big Knife, Portage Distance traveled: 16.5 miles

Packing up

We took our time today since we weren’t going as far so we fished along the way. We basically followed the US Canadian border the whole time with several smaller portages around smaller waterfalls and rapids, it was a beautiful day! Over the Big Knife Portage onto the Knife River also known as Seed Lake (no idea why, it’s just what the map says) to Melon Lake and then to Carp Lake. It was on one of these smaller portages that we found a pack that someone had left behind. We had a discussion on what to do, take it with us or leave it. We decided to leave it in case the person(s) who left it came back for it as we didn't know which direction the group was traveling. I am glad we did because we ran into the group a short while later that was coming back for it. Turns out they had to exit quickly because a member of their group broke their leg and they had taken him back out to civilization for treatment and were on there way back to continue and finish their trip, hopefully with no more incidents. It was also on one of these smaller portages where Sara would portage her first canoe. After a quick lesson she flipped the canoe onto her shoulders with a little help and off she went, no issues although she said she didn’t have to do it again unless she had to. Before to long we were on the portage from Carp Lake to Birch Lake. While on the portage we ran into another group that told us of the waterfall that needs to be looked at so we took the detour and did some sightseeing. Just a word of caution, just off the trail we took to see the waterfall, up in a tree was a pretty decent sized beehive (or hornet or something that stings, I didn’t stick around to find out) so watch out for that.

Waterfall

Back on the water we paddled down Birch Lake which actually turns out to be a really long lake. After we rounded the corner out of the area immediately after the portage we decided to start looking for a campsite as we noticed the canoe traffic starting to pick up again. We passed a couple of occupied sites and grabbed the first available one we happened upon.

The campsite # 1279. This site has a nice landing in a little bay (if you could even call it that) however it did have a slanted rock surface that was a little slippery which made things challenging. Once up in the site it sprawls out in all directions with tent pads spaced out decently including one just off the trail that leads west off the back off the site. It was like a little bedroom surrounded on the sides and top by forest with a window to the lake. There is an absolute awesome bear hang tree back behind the site (south) a little way, best bear hang tree I have ever encountered. It was a HUGE pine on a slope that had one branch parallel to the ground. If you stood up on the hill and threw your rope over said branch it was perfect! Our food was a good 20 feet off the ground but still at least 10 feet down from the branch and a good 20 feet off the tree!

Campsite # 1279

Since we were arrived so early there was plenty of time to explore, fish and just hang out. I really cherish these times. The conversation is easy and all manner of topics are discussed, heavy, light, serious, crazy, etc… I don’t remember any specific conversations at this campsite but we talked a lot. It makes one realize the distractions from technology in our everyday lives that prevent us connecting with each other on a more personal level. I always feel so refreshed after these trips. Throughout the afternoon some fish were caught and lures were lost. We had some rumbles of thunder but fortunately no storms materialized. We also had a really large rabbit frequent the area, scared several of as we tromped off to the latrine. The evening progressed, we had a fire and off to bed looking forward to another shorter day.

Lakes traveled: Big Knife, Knife River/Seed Lake, Melon, Carp, Birch Distance traveled: 6.5 miles

We were up around our usual time and started to break down camp to get a start on the day. I really enjoyed this site! Today’s goal was to get a site close to our exit point of Latourells. So we left around our usual time of 8:30am and went straight down Birch Lake to the portage to Sucker Lake. This was to be our last portage on the trip! Sometime over the last couple of days, I believe it was the night we stayed on Portage Lake, the wind switched from the north to west south west. And once again we were back to fighting the wind. As we got through the portage and caught a glimpse of Sucker Lake, white caps once again greeted us. Oh well, nothing we haven’t already done before. Bow into the waves and go!! It really wasn’t too bad as we battled across the open water towards the sheltered water of the opposite shore. There is really not much to tell about today’s travel as it was all paddling however we did pass some pretty nice campsites, at least they looked nice. But we wanted to get closer to make our final day easier. We ended up paddling through Sucker and onto Newfound Lake and took one of the campsites in the bay on the northern side of the lake. We arrived again before noon. I am starting to like these shorter days!!!

The campsite # 1311. This site has probably one of the easiest landings of any campsite in the BWCA. Shallow and an easy transition onto land. The site itself is on a slight incline with several flat tent pads and plenty of trees for hammocks. Once you get off the back of the site the landscape climbs at a pretty good clip with plenty of options for bear hang trees. The latrine was a way off up the hill in a little opening with lots of wildflowers that was pretty peaceful and warm if you visited during the time of day when the sun warmed the seat for you.

Once camp was set up, we had lunch and as the food was being pulled out Sara innocently asked if anyone wanted a cliff bar. What ensued was a good laugh as we estimated that Sara and Gerardo brought enough food for another 3-4 days and were carrying around all that extra weight. So we discussed how to meal plan for a wilderness trip so next time we would be lighter and more efficient. Although we were all thankful for the 3-ply toilet paper that Sara brought with and shared generously. That is a luxury item that may take up some space but is light and totally worth it! You don’t know what you don’t know until you know it. Every experience in life teaches us something to make us better educated on that topic.

We were also planning to have a fish fry later that evening so we were planning a concentrated effort at catching some fish. The only problem is all our leeches were gone at this point in the trip and I never really have had much success with artificial lures, in the BWCA or anywhere really. I believe we started fishing around 4:30pm, Zach and I were in one canoe and Nate and Gerardo were in the other. We fished for about 2 hrs and caught a bunch of smaller yet keeper sized smallmouth and northerns but with no way to communicate we ended up releasing all the fish because we didn’t think we had enough for a fish fry. Nate also lost a large Smallmouth at the canoe. Well…. It turned out that if everyone kept their keepers we would have had enough. Back to camp for more freeze-dried food and a campfire before turning in for the night.

Lakes: Birch, Sucker, Newfound Distance traveled: 5 miles

Lakes: Newfound, Moose Distance traveled: 2 miles

Conclusion With the conclusion of this trip, Nate and I surpassed 100 miles of canoe travel in the BWCA in 3 yrs. Thinking back to our first trip in 2019 that started out as a pipe dream has morphed into an annual event while introducing multiple first timers along the way. Every single trip has been a unique and challenging experience in and of itself. Each trip has presented unique challenges to solve and overcome allowing personal growth to become a better human. It doesn’t matter how far you go, where you go or who you go with. There is something really special about the true wilderness. In the wilderness, the quiet, the lack of distractions, the landscape with its raw beauty and subtleties that require your attention lest a lesson be learned through pain and suffering. These trips always leave me with a sense of accomplishment as well as a need for more. However, I think the days of pushing to do miles are behind me. The downside is I will need to take longer trips to get deeper into the BWCA where I enjoy the solitude and comradery experienced with family and friends. Next year’s trip will be shorter to allow more time for fishing! But that’s also what I said last year……